INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN ART: A CONCISE GUIDE
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Leonardo was deeply interested in finding order in nature, and his studies of plants, birds, and the movement of water all are directed to that end. So are his many anatomical drawings, as well as his famous proportion study, the Vitruvian Man. In this work, the ideal man is shown to fit into a perfect circle and a perfect square. Leonardo’s drawing is based on the work of the Roman writer Vitruvius, and his ingenious way of giving form to Vitruvius’ rather dry description has made the Vitruvian Man one of the most memorable images in the history of art.  See a good image of the Vitruvian Man (and explore Leonardo’s other works) at universalleonardo.org THE HIGH RENAISSANCE IN ROME: JULIUS II AS COLLECTOR AND PATRON At the beginning of the Renaissance, the city of Rome was a mere shadow of its former self. The great buildings of ancient Rome had fallen into disrepair for many reasons: waves of marauding tribes, the church using ancient Roman buildings as a quarries for new churches, and a simple lack of interest and resources to maintain them. The population of the city of Rome was probably over a million during the time of Augustus; by the fourteenth century there were only around 25,000 in the city. The pope and his court resided in France for most of the fourteenth century, and as a result the economy collapsed. By the mid-fifteenth century there was growing interest in reviving the ancient grandeur of Rome. The popes had taken up residency in the city once again, and some of them envisioned a new Christian Rome Empire as glorious as the ancient Roman Empire. Much building activity centered around Old St. Peter’s and the Vatican, the palace adjacent to St. Peter’s, which became the main residence of the popes from around 1450. The palace is huge with many significant works of art within, but we will be concentrating on the works associated with Pope Julius II: a suite of rooms decorated by Raphael and his shop and the Sistine Chapel, which has wall frescoes by great 15th century painters like Botticelli and Perugino, as well as the famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo. Although these spaces would not have been open to the public as they are today, Pope Julius II did allow access to his sculpture collection in the Belvedere, which was originally a separate building at the top of the Vatican hill (it was connected to the palace in the sixteenth century by long corridors designed by Raphael). Julius II acquired some of the best-known classical works found in the Renaissance like the Laocöon and the Torso Belvedere. These are Hellenistic sculptures from the 3rd-1st century BCE, and they display powerful, muscular figures and strong twisting motion. These sculptures were especially admired by Michelangelo—you will see reflections of these sculptures in the Sistine Chapel frescoes. Julius II’s interest in classical art is an aspect of his ambition to create a new Christian empire, as glorious as the ancient Roman Empire. Pope Julius II was a very militant pope, who led troops trying to conquer new territory for the Papal States. He was enormously ambitious, wanting to bring glory to the Church and himself. He employed the best architects and artists in Italy, and in 1505 he called Michelangelo to Rome to work on his own tomb. If it had been built as first planned the Tomb of Julius II would have been about as tall as a three story building, and would have contained 40 over-life sized sculpture (two of these sculptures, the Rebellious Slave and the Dying Slave, are in the Louvre). It was originally planned to be placed in a new apse being built on St. Peter’s basilica, a 4th century Early Christian church. Legend has it that Julius II soon felt the new apse would not be adequate, and commissioned Bramante to design an entirely new St. Peter’s. Bramante’s plan would be revised by Michelangelo in the 1540s, and revised again